[MDOsprey] Pelagic Birds
PObrien776@aol.com
Wed, 2 Jun 1999 12:08:34 EDT
Ospreyers,
I thought those who are signed up for Armas Hill's trips out of Lewes, DE
later this month might be interested in what we saw off of Hatteras this past
weekend on Brian Patteson's three trips. There was also a fourth trip on
Friday out of Oregon Inlet, but I didn't make that one. They saw a
White-tailed Tropicbird and a Fea's Petrel, but not much else. The tally for
Hatteras is as follows:
Species May 29 May 30 May 31
Fea's Petrel - -
1or2
Herald (Trinidade) Petrel 1* - 2**
Black-capped Petrel 289 267 255
Cory's Shearwater 37 104 181
Greater Shearwater - - 7
Sooty Shearwater 1 13 18
Manx Shearwater - - 1
Audubon's Shearwater 39 45 32
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 199 145 196
Leach's Storm-Petrel 14 - 41
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel 6 5 2
Red-necked Phalarope 2 - -
South Polar Skua - - 1
Pomarine Jaeger - - 6
Parasitic Jaeger - - 2
Long-tailed Jaeger - - 1
Arctic Tern 1 1 -
Bridled Tern - 3 1
*Intermediate to Dark Morph
**Light and Dark Morphs
Other Beasties
Offshore Bottlenosed Dolphins 69 - X
Spotted Dolphin - - X
Pilot Whale 24 - -
Portuguese Man-O-War 2 - 1
Mola mola - - 1
Blue Marlin hooked but lost 1 - -
White Marlin cought and released - - 1
The warm water birds (Fea's, Herald, Black-capped Petrels, Band-rumped
Storm-Petrel, Bridled tern) will not very likely be found on the Lewes trips
but the Skua and Jaegers are migrants that could very well still be passing
through, and we have had Arctic Terns in Maryland in the last week or two.
The other Shearwaters and Storm-Petrels are good possibilities, particularly
if we encounter a warm water eddy.
If the above list is making you salivate, tune in to www.patteson.com. Note
that there is no "r" in Patteson. We wouldn't want you to become frustrated
trying to find his web page. There are additional trips next weekend, but
they might be sold out, and others in July, August and September, the latter
out of Virginia Beach where they have had Fea's, Herald, Tropicbird and
White-faced Storm-Petrel in September. Back in February Brian had a
Yellow-nosed Albatross! Go for it.
I have no financial interest in Brian Patteson, Inc., I just love the birds
he shows you. We had killer looks at the Fea's and Herald Petrels and the
Skua. The birds fed all night with the full moon and were loafing on the
water all morning. Since the seas were flat calm, we could see groups of
birds on the water and just ease up to them. When they flew, it wasn't far,
so you could repeat the process for anyone who missed the first look.
Paul O'Brien
Rockville, MD
pobrien776@aol.com